We worked on closed guard drills the whole time. I got there late so I only got two partners to work with. Again, I hit some triangles and omoplatas, I did surprisingly well against another blue who is much stronger and heavier than me. I usually don't do well with bigger dudes. So that was a plus. Since I was late, I stayed longer to work some stuff with my soon to be roommate. We worked on jumping into guard (because we both are not confident in our take downs) for the tournament. We also worked triangle and omoplata escapes. My reaction times are seeming to get faster and faster. A very good thing.

Increased StrengthN/AIncreased O2 Utilization and ATPYes, not once was I even slightly out of breath.Improved Recovery Times Between SetsN/AVastly Increased Muscular EnduranceN/AIncreased PumpN/AMood Enhancement
Yes, very very relaxed.

"As a parting gift, let me leave you all with something that Andre Galvao imparted on me while we were training before last year's BJJ World Championships and Pan-Americans. Basically, Andre laid me down and told me to pull any guard.

As soon as I made contact, he would pass and I would have to turn away from him to turtle. This was a part of our drill. He would then immediately, take the back position and lock in a choke - this happened EVERY SINGLE TIME! We repeated this drill non stop for about an hour. My only job was to come up with a new guard and hold it, get passed, and then show my back when Andre passed.

Afterwards, (we were both exhausted by the pace) I asked Andre why he trained this way. He answered that he once saw his instructor Terere, do the same drill over and over for about 3 weeks as he prepared for a tournament - passing the guard (the same way every time) to the back to the choke.

He didn't spar like crazy, but he did spar lightly as a warmup. Once warm, he would just do this over and over with varying levels of resistance while the rest of the class sparred and fought. When the tournament came around, guess what? Terere, immediately passed everyone's guard, took the back, and finished with a choke. It was second nature.

"As a parting gift, let me leave you all with something that Andre Galvao imparted on me while we were training before last year's BJJ World Championships and Pan-Americans. Basically, Andre laid me down and told me to pull any guard.

As soon as I made contact, he would pass and I would have to turn away from him to turtle. This was a part of our drill. He would then immediately, take the back position and lock in a choke - this happened EVERY SINGLE TIME! We repeated this drill non stop for about an hour. My only job was to come up with a new guard and hold it, get passed, and then show my back when Andre passed.

Afterwards, (we were both exhausted by the pace) I asked Andre why he trained this way. He answered that he once saw his instructor Terere, do the same drill over and over for about 3 weeks as he prepared for a tournament - passing the guard (the same way every time) to the back to the choke.

He didn't spar like crazy, but he did spar lightly as a warmup. Once warm, he would just do this over and over with varying levels of resistance while the rest of the class sparred and fought. When the tournament came around, guess what? Terere, immediately passed everyone's guard, took the back, and finished with a choke. It was second nature.

Increased StrengthSlight, felt it on squats.Increased O2 Utilization and ATPYes, was not as out of breath on squats as usual. Whew.Improved Recovery Times Between SetsI could have, but workload was heavy enough that I wanted to utilize my entire break.Vastly Increased Muscular EnduranceHard to say really... I didn't get my entire squat set, but I did well on other exercises.Increased PumpToo much pumpage in the quads.Mood Enhancement
Feeling sexy.

Bleacher work was a little harder this time. We ran up and down steps back and forth, then double leg hop back and forth, then ran up and down steps back and forth again, and all this concurrently to tax my cardio a little more.

As you can imagine this workout was very difficult due to my amazing DOMS from the previous squat session.

Increased StrengthSignificant.Increased O2 Utilization and ATPNot that much of an O2 demanding workout, but I was never breathing hard.Improved Recovery Times Between SetsYes.Vastly Increased Muscular EnduranceI would agree, I think I pumped out a bit more reps I wouldn't have otherwise.Increased PumpNot so much.Mood Enhancement
Yup, feeling sexy.

My instructor David Ruiz (a Rigan Machado Black Belt) in Denver has 3 rules that he teaches that really changed the guard game for me, and specifically the open guard game.

Always maintain a maximum of 90 degrees between your torso and your thighs. It can be less (i.e. knees pulled tighter into your chest) but it can never be more than 90. For example if you opponent goes for a bull fighter style pass by pulling/pushing your legs to one side, you must sit up to maintain your 90 degrees.
Always maintain foot controls on either side of your opponents body (e.g. a foot on either side of the hips, on his shoulders, spidered around one arm & one hip, legs X'd on either hip, etc.).
Knees always bowed/flared out. This makes passing around the guard much more difficult and leaves the best option for the opponent to pass through the center where your arms and grips can come into play more effectively.
I find when someone passes my guard, inevitably, I have broken one of these 3 rules.

"As a parting gift, let me leave you all with something that Andre Galvao imparted on me while we were training before last year's BJJ World Championships and Pan-Americans. Basically, Andre laid me down and told me to pull any guard.

As soon as I made contact, he would pass and I would have to turn away from him to turtle. This was a part of our drill. He would then immediately, take the back position and lock in a choke - this happened EVERY SINGLE TIME! We repeated this drill non stop for about an hour. My only job was to come up with a new guard and hold it, get passed, and then show my back when Andre passed.

Afterwards, (we were both exhausted by the pace) I asked Andre why he trained this way. He answered that he once saw his instructor Terere, do the same drill over and over for about 3 weeks as he prepared for a tournament - passing the guard (the same way every time) to the back to the choke.

He didn't spar like crazy, but he did spar lightly as a warmup. Once warm, he would just do this over and over with varying levels of resistance while the rest of the class sparred and fought. When the tournament came around, guess what? Terere, immediately passed everyone's guard, took the back, and finished with a choke. It was second nature.

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.
Bruce Lee